The Most Valuable Endorsement: A Girl & A Gun’s Instructor Gear Report

The firearms industry has become exceptionally good at measuring consumer behavior. Sales reports reveal what’s moving off shelves, retailers identify purchasing trends, and customer surveys capture changing preferences. Together, those metrics explain what people buy.

Professional instructors answer a different question entirely. Everyday her students ask, “What do you use?”

Students almost never ask which product was released most recently or which company has the biggest marketing budget. They want to know what the instructor trusts enough to bring to the range every weekend. That answer reflects far more than a single purchase. It represents thousands of rounds fired, countless range days, miles of travel, changing weather, and years of experience with equipment that continues to earn its place. Buying a product is one decision. Continuing to recommend it, year after year, is something entirely different.

The 2026 A Girl & A Gun Rifle Retreat offered a rare opportunity to see those recommendations in action. Seventy accomplished women firearms instructors gathered for advanced development on the AR-15 platform, bringing the rifles, optics, apparel, hearing protection, eye protection, and support equipment they rely on throughout the year.

Collectively, these women hold hundreds of professional credentials spanning pistol and rifle instruction, range safety, emergency medical care, communications, competition, and nationally recognized live-fire qualification standards. More importantly, they carry that expertise back to their own communities, where they teach new shooters, mentor experienced gun owners, coach competitors, and certify future instructors.

That makes their equipment choices especially meaningful. Every brand represented on this firing line earned its place through repeated professional use, and every instructor influences hundreds, if not thousands, of purchasing decisions each year. When a trusted instructor recommends a product, that recommendation doesn’t stop with one student. It reaches an entire class, then their families, friends, and shooting partners. Credibility compounds.

Twenty-Four Rifle Brands Shared the Line

The most striking takeaway from the rifle data is that no brands dominated the field. Among 70 instructors, 24 different rifle manufacturers appeared on the firing line. Ruger accounted for 18% of rifles, followed by Stag Arms at 14%, custom and hybrid builds at 12%, and Smith & Wesson at 9%. Together, those four categories represented just over half of the rifles observed. The remaining 47% was spread across twenty additional manufacturers.

Anderson Manufacturing accounted for 5%, while Aero Precision, American Defense Manufacturing, Black Rain Ordnance, Faxon Firearms, and Sig Sauer each appeared at 4%. BCM, Christensen Arms, CMMG, Daniel Defense, Palmetto State Armory, Rock River Arms, Shield Arms, Watchtower Firearms, and several others rounded out the line.

For rifle manufacturers, that’s encouraging news. The professional market remains remarkably open. Even the most common rifle represented fewer than one in five instructors. Performance, reliability, and long-term durability continue to outweigh company size or advertising reach. Instructors are willing to try different platforms, but they continue carrying the rifles that prove themselves over time.

Optics Tell a Different Story

If rifles reflected experimentation, optics reflected loyalty. Every instructor at Rifle Retreat ran an optic as her primary sighting system. 57% chose non-magnified optics, while 43% ran magnified optics. Not a single instructor relied on iron sights alone.

Within the red-dot category, Holosun stood apart. 55% of instructors chose Holosun, exceeding the combined share of every other non-magnified optic manufacturer represented. Vortex followed at 13%, Sig Sauer at 10%, and EOTech at 6%, with Aimpoint, Burris, Crimson Trace, Meprolight, and TruGlo each appearing at 3%.

The magnified category showed similar concentration. Vortex Optics led with 44%, followed by Sig Sauer at 16%. Together, those two companies accounted for 60% of all magnified optics on the line. NightForce and Primary Arms each held 8%, while Trijicon, Arken Optics, ACCUFIRE, Vector Optics, Aztec Optics, and Cabela’s each represented 4%.

The contrast between rifles and optics is telling. Instructors often continue evaluating new rifle platforms, but once they find an optic that consistently performs, they’re far less likely to replace it. Trust accumulates over years of use, and that trust becomes difficult for competitors to overcome.

The Most Dominant Brand Wasn’t a Firearm

42% of instructors wore 5.11 Tactical pants, making it the single highest concentration of any individual brand measured at Rifle Retreat. That figure was more than twice the share of the leading rifle manufacturer.

The same pattern appeared throughout support equipment. Nexbelt accounted for 22% of instructor belt systems, more than doubling any named competitor. Magpul Industries led the sling category at 31%, followed by Troy Industries at 12%, Edgar Sherman Design at 9%, and Blue Force Gear at 7%.

These aren’t products that generate the biggest headlines, but they’re often the products instructors use every day. Particularly among women, apparel and accessory brands are frequently discussed. Women are asking instructors about brands that are comfortable, flattering, and appropriate for the sport, training, or weather conditions. That consistency creates a level of familiarity that’s difficult for competing brands to replace.

Eye Protection and Hearing Protection Tell Two Different Stories

Protective equipment revealed two very different competitive landscapes. Eye protection remained highly fragmented. Prescription eyewear led at 23%, reflecting the practical needs of experienced instructors. Hunters HD Gold followed at 15%, SSP at 13%, Rudy Project and Wiley X each at 10%, and Oakley at 4%. Fourteen additional manufacturers each accounted for roughly 2% of the field.

Hearing protection was far more concentrated. Walker’s led with 33%, followed closely by Axil at 28% and AKT1 Sport at 19%. Together, those three brands accounted for 80% of the hearing protection used throughout the event. Grizzly Ears represented 11%, while Peltor Sport accounted for the remaining 8%.

For companies entering these categories, the competitive challenge is very different. Eye protection still offers room for specialization and differentiation. Hearing protection requires convincing experienced instructors to abandon products they’ve already trusted for years.

Trust Is Built Long After the Purchase

For an instructor, preferred equipment is grounded in experience rather than marketing. It’s the gear that has survived repeated travel, sustained live fire, changing weather, and years of teaching students. It’s the equipment they rely on when dozens of people are watching every movement they make.

That’s why instructor data complements traditional consumer research so well. Sales figures tell us what entered the market. Instructor preferences reveal what remained in service after years of professional use and continued to earn recommendations.

As women continue to expand their influence as instructors, coaches, mentors, and industry leaders, those recommendations carry increasing weight. The seventy instructors who attended the 2026 Rifle Retreat will spend the coming year introducing new shooters to the firearms community, mentoring experienced owners, coaching competitors, and answering countless equipment questions along the way.

Every one of those conversations shapes future purchasing decisions. For manufacturers looking to understand where credibility is truly built, there may be no more valuable question than the one instructors answer every day.